In November 2009, Exploratorium After Dark welcomed particle physicist Dr. Austin Richards—aka Dr. MegaVolt. Under the Palace of Fine Arts rotunda, he jousted with a high-voltage Tesla coil, which generated 200,000 volts of electricity and shot 14-foot-long arcs of lightning through the air.

In recognition of the Exploratorium's 40th anniversary, join us for a special edition of our popular show, Iron Science Teacher. In this zany science cook-off, teachers compete before a live audience at the Exploratorium for the revered title, "Iron Science Teacher." The secret ingredient will be something closely related to our anniversary!

How do you give your students the words they need to understand an activity or a topic? TI Staff Educator Modesto Tamez explains his opinion that vocabulary is best given towards the end of a lesson, not at the beginning.

This electrifying After Dark event featured Austin Richards, Ph.D.—aka, Dr. MegaVolt®—jousting with 14-foot electrical arcs from his high-voltage Tesla coil on the evening of Thursday, November 5, 2009. This wonderful performance contributed to the celebration of the Exploratorium’s 40th Anniversary.

Is water ice present or absent in a crater near the moon's south pole? NASA’s Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission is seeking a definitive answer. Join Exploratorium staff for a special Webcast featuring live coverage of LCROSS crashing into the moon! Our team will be broadcasting live from the 36" Refractor Telescope at Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton, where we’ll watch the impact and investigate how this intentional crash could reveal the existence of water ice.

Webcasts made possible through the generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Jim Clark Endowment for Internet Education, the McBean Family Foundation.

Bandwidth and infrastructure support for connectivity to the California Research and Education Network and to other Internet2-connected networks provided by the Corporation for Educational Networks Initiatives in California (CENIC).